In various commercial products, it is desirable to impart colorful visual effects through the application of a pigmented formulation to a surface to form an aesthetically appealing image. The image may be applied to the surface by various methods, including applying a paint material to the surface by means of a brush or an aerosol spray. Alternately, other methods may be used that avoid painting processes altogether. For example, an appliquéor a decal having the desired image formed thereon may be adhered to the surface.
The foregoing conventional methods have been widely used to apply images to an exterior portion of an aircraft. For example, images may be applied to wing, fuselage and tail surfaces of the aircraft for decorative and/or functional purposes. Since the images are typically large and often detailed, skilled personnel are required to paint or adhere an image to an exterior portion of the aircraft. Consequently, the production cost of an aircraft is increased due to the additional labor cost associated with painting or adhering an image to the exterior portion of the aircraft.
Other shortcomings stem from the foregoing processes, which will now be described in detail. FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view of an external portion 10 of an aircraft having a painted image applied thereon, according to the prior art. The external portion 10 includes a supporting surface 12, which is typically a structural portion of the aircraft, such as a fuselage panel, a wing panel, or other external surfaces of the aircraft, and a plurality of paint layers 14 that are applied to the supporting surface 12. The paint layers 14 may include a primer layer 16, a base color layer 18, and a plurality of decorative color layers 20 that collectively form the painted image on the external portion 10.
One significant shortcoming present in this method is that the paint layers 14 are generally successively applied to the supporting surface 12, so that a time-consuming drying period is required between successive paint applications, thus increasing the production time for the aircraft. Further, the application of the decorative color layers 20 additionally requires the application of paint masking devices such as stencils, or tape between successive applications of the layers 20, which requires still more time and labor. Since spray application devices may only apply a single color portion of the image, the spray application device must be cleaned numerous times before image is complete, thus requiring still more time and labor.
Still other shortcomings are inherent in the image itself when the image is applied by the foregoing method. For example, the application of the decorative color layers 20 generally results in an external surface 22 having surface irregularities 24. Since the external surface 22 is exposed to a slipstream while the aircraft is in flight, the surface irregularities 24 generate additional surface drag on the aircraft that results in increased fuel consumption for the aircraft. Although appliqués, such as decals and other similar preformed images have been widely used for applying images to aircraft, and generally present a smooth external surface to the slipstream, appliqués are susceptible to premature degradation through prolonged exposure to ultraviolet radiation that results in fading and/or discoloration of the image. In addition, appliqués may partially detach from the aircraft surface, particularly along exposed edges of the appliqúe, so that maintenance costs for the aircraft are increased.
Therefore, there is an unmet need in the art for systems and methods for forming an image on an aircraft exterior that results in lower production and maintenance costs, while providing an image that is generally superior to those currently produced.